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Windows 7: Complete loss of sound on my Dell XPS 8300?

I have had my computer for about 4-5 months now, it has always worked perfectly.

But 2 days ago, I turned it on and there was absolutely no sound. My speakers have a USB cable and a smaller cable like you have on headphones that goes in jacks.

I am really, really bad with computers and I don't know what the speakers are called or anything.

I have tried everything I could think of in the control panel and it definitely isn't the speakers (They work fine on my Mum's laptop). I tried some headphones in the computer in every plug but still no joy.

I would really appreciate it if you guys could help me out here.

P.S. If you need some extra information about my computer, I will try to find some. I have posted all I can get for now in my system specs but I don't know what some of it means.

EDIT: I recently ran a troubleshooting program and it says that my speakers are not plugged in but they plainly are. Does this mean anything?

Check the Sound in the Device Manager. Make sure it shows the sound device as the RealTek HD Audio (assuming you have the standard integrated - on the motherboard audio)l If it shows something else such as the generic "HD Audioi Codec" that Windows installs that is most likely the problem. I do a lot of support on the Dell users forum and we have found that non-Dell sound drivers either do not work or do not work correctly.

To access the Device Manager, hold the Windows Key down and press the Pause/Break Key. The Device Manager can be accessed from the panel that comes up.

If it shows the RealTek with an error code, report back with the code. If it shows as working properly, RIGHT click on the RealTek entry and then LEFT click "Uninstall". DO NOT check the box to uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the sound. If there was a Windows status corruption, this will fix it.

I know it sounds simple, (and you've probably already checked it) but make sure your volume isn't on mute or anything :) I've had my fair share of duh moments like that before, and it's always best to start with the simplest possible explanation.

RealTek is just the built-in audio hardware for your computer (and I suspect that your second bullet point "High definition audio device" is referring to that.) Creative SB X-Fi is going to be the good sound card you have installed and are likely using.

Based on Dell's description of your computer, you should have audio jacks in two different groupings in the back of your computer. If you have for sure tried using working headphones in each of these ports without any results, we can be pretty sure that the problem lies with your operating system somewhere, which is good because that means it's probably not faulty hardware. And if the speakers work on another computer then you can be pretty sure there's nothing wrong with them.

If you have a system restore point from before your sound stopped working, and nothing else helps you out, I'd recommend trying to revert to that and see what happens. But save that for later.

Did you install anything noteworthy or make any significant changes to your system or even notice anything unusual within a few days before you starting having this issue?

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